MINI MOVIE REVIEWS

OLYMPIAN STAFF, NEWS SERVICES

Originally published Friday, February 15, 2002

A BEAUTIFUL MIND

* * * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Shelton Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Russell Crowe delivers a virtuoso performance as the tormented, brilliant mathematician John Forbes Nash. Directed by Ron Howard. Universal Pictures, 129 minutes.

BIG FAT LIAR

* 1/2 (PG)

- Stars: Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti and Amanda Bynes.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A small, thin comedy about a high school student who gets revenge when his homework is stolen by a movie producer and transformed into a movie. Universal Pictures, 88 minutes.

BLACK HAWK DOWN

* * (R)

- Stars: Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A gritty, tough re-enactment of a U.S. mission in Somalia in 1993 that went drastically wrong -- and the heroism of the men involved. But its racial politics are muddled and unsettling. Directed by Ridley Scott. Columbia Pictures, 143 minutes.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

* * (R)

- Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Francesca Neri and Cliff Curtis.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A standard action film, built on the revenge formula, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Los Angeles fireman who travels to Colombia to kill the terrorists whose bomb killed his innocent wife and child. Andrew Davis directs. Warner Bros., 115 minutes.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

* * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas, Yelm Cinemas and Shelton Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckling tale of betrayal and revenge looks great in this new version, but suffers from a lack of depth once it gets past the production design. Still, it could be just the movie to interest that pre-teen boy of yours in reading the book. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. Touchstone Pictures, 110 minutes.

CROSSROADS

* * (PG-13)

- Stars: Britney Spears and Dan Aykroyd.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Three teen-age girls drive cross-country after high school graduation. One of them is Britney Spears. Does the rest really matter? Directed by Tamra Davis. Paramount Pictures, 90 minutes.

GEORGE WASHINGTON

* * * (not rated)

- Stars: Candace Evanofski, Donald Holden and Curtis Cotton III.

- Playing: Feb. 16-20 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: Spend a last summer of innocence with a group of preadolescent, underprivileged North Carolina friends. Directed by David Gordon Green. May not be suitable for young children.

GOSFORD PARK

* * * * (R)

- Stars: Alan Bates, Clive Owen, Emily Watson, Helen Mirren, Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Jeremy Northam and Ryan Phillipe.

- Playing: Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A British period piece full of eccentric characters who provide an endless list of suspects when one of them is murdered during a country-house weekend gathering in 1932. And this comedy of manners is so much fun that it wouldn't even need the mystery to be one of the year's top entertainments. Directed by Robert Altman.

JOHN Q

* * 1/2 (PG-13)

- Stars: Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall, Ray Liotta and James Woods.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Denzel Washington plays a frustrated but under-insured father who takes over a hospital after they refuse to give his dying son a heart transplant. An overly obvious dispute against HMOs, the film still engages, thanks to Washington's heartfelt portrayal. Nick Cassavetes directs. New Line, 118 minutes.

KILLER OF SHEEP

* * * (not rated)

- Stars: Henry G. Sanders, Kaycee Moore, Charles Bracy and Angela Burnett.

- Playing: 6:30 and 9 p.m. Feb. 21 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: A black man in Los Angeles struggles to overcome his impotence and provide for his family. Directed by Charles Burnett. Contains mature subject matter.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

* * * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Peter Jackson's vivid and imaginative retelling of the first part of the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy trilogy about a young Hobbit who tries to save Middle Earth by destroying an all-powerful ring of evil. New Line, 178 minutes.

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

* * (PG-13)

- Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney and Alan Bates.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Richard Gere dives into "X-Files" country for this story about a reporter trying to uncover mysterious paranormal activities in a West Virginia town. Mark Pellington directs. Screen Gems, 119 minutes.

RETURN TO NEVERLAND

* 1/2 (G)

- Playing: Shelton Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Uninspired sequel to Disney's 1953 classic "Peter Pan." The animation looks 50 years old, which would have been OK had a Golden Age story accompanied it. Instead, we get rehashed characters and situations that play like the direct-to-video movie this should have been. Disney, 72 minutes.

ROLLERBALL

(PG-13)

- Star rating: Not reviewed.

- Stars: Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J and Rebecca Romijn Stamos.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Chris Klein and teammates find that their dangerous sport is becoming downright lethal. Directed by John McTiernan.

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

* * * * (R)

- Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller and Anjelica Huston.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Director Wes Anderson scores with this quirky, funny tale of a dysfunctional family of geniuses who learn not to overthink everything in their lives. Rated R for profanity, sexuality and violence. Touchstone Pictures, 103 minutes.

SNOW DOGS

* * 1/2 (PG)

- Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Predictable children's film about a Miami dentist (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who inherits a dogsled team and heads to Alaska. While there, he butts heads with a gruff local (James Coburn). Should be fun for the kids, but not parents. Directed by Brian Levant. Disney, 99 minutes.

SUPER TROOPERS

* * (R)

- Stars: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Marisa Coughlan.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: "Super Troopers" aims to be a sort of "Airplane" on the open road. And it has an authentic, low-budget look that recalls the worst '70s B-movies, even though it's set today. Jay Chandrasekhar directs. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 100 minutes.

VA SAVOIR

* * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Jeanne Balibar, Sergio Castillitto and Marianne Basler.

- Playing: Feb. 16-20 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: In this farce, six characters fall in love with one another in inconvenient and unforeseen combinations. Directed by Jacques Rivette. In French with English subtitles.

A WALK TO REMEMBER

(PG)

- Star rating: Not reviewed.

- Stars: Mandy Moore and Shane West.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Jaded high schooler Shane West falls for Mandy Moore in a coming-of-age story set in North Carolina. With Peter Coyote and Daryl Hannah.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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